The Love We Shared in September
by Maman Abeille
Summary: A collection of one shots, two shots, and drabbles for Lukanette September challenge from lukanette-month on Tumblr . Day 3: Fashion Show. Marinette is concerned she won't have everything finished in time for the showcase. Thankfully, Luka is there to help.
1. Second Chance (Day 7)

**Title: Second Chance  
****Timeframe: Immediately following Desperada  
****Pairing: Lukanette  
****Rating: K  
****Warnings: SPOILERS for Desperada  
****Special thanks:  
****Author's Note: Day 7 of Lukanette September Challenge by lukanette-month on Tumbr. **

Marinette finds herself pacing in front of The Liberty, rehearsing speech after speech in her head. She knows she hurt Luka, and it's killing her. She didn't mean to, she really didn't. It's just that all sense of reason leaves her when it comes to Adrien, even while trying to get over him. She wishes she could banish all of her feelings for the blonde, and focus only on the musician. Such strong feelings didn't just disappear over night, though. She lets out a frustrated grumble and buries her face in her hands.

"Are you going to burn a hole in our dock with all that pacing or are you coming aboard?" a voice calls down, startling her out of her thoughts with a small shriek and large jump.

"Oh…um…" Marinette bits her lip. She stares up at Anarka, uncertainly. "Is Luka home? Do you think he'd talk to me?"

"Only one way to find out," Anarka tells her with a nod to the loading dock. She may be playing coy with the young teen, but she knows her boy would always make time for girl. He was smitten with her. "Come aboard, lassie. He's below deck."

Marinette takes one more pace in front of the ship, before nodding decisively, and boarding the boat. She mutters a quiet 'thanks' to Anarka before taking the now familiar path down to Luka's room. She knocks on his door, pushing it open after she hears him call, "It's open." He doesn't look up from his book, so takes a few steps inside, which gets his attention.

"Oh, Marinette," he sets his book to the side, and sits up straighter, giving her a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Hey, Luka." She nods to edge of the bed, which has become her normal seat, silently asking permission. He nods back, and gently pats the spot. She loves the ease of communication that the two of them have developed over the last several weeks. Which makes the whole incident from earlier so much worse. "I'm sorry, Luka," she nearly shouts out in her nervousness. She takes a deep breath, and turns to him. "You should have been the one that I suggested to Jagged earlier. You're an amazing musician. You're probably even a better guitarist than Jagged himself. I just- Adri- he- ugh!" she huffs, plopping backwards and banging her head on his knee in the process, "Ow. Sorry."

Luka can't help the chuckle that escapes. "You okay?" When she mutters a 'yes', he brushes her bangs out of her face, and helps her back to a seated position. "I'm not going to lie, and say I wasn't hurt when you went straight to Adrien, because I was." Marinette's face falls, and he takes her hand in his. "We have a deal though. I'm not going to push you in your choices. You get to pick who you want to be with. For now, I'm happy just getting to know you and spending time with you."

"Thanks, Luka. I'm not sure I really deserve that." She looks down at their clasped hands, at his thumb tracing the tiniest of circles on hers. She fights back a shiver that threatens to make its way up her spine. "I really am sorry for hurting you." Luka squeezes her hand softly. "You didn't mean to."

He pulls her back against his chest, and grabs his guitar from its stand by the head of his bed. "Want to get back to learning?" Marinette looks up at him with a smile, and nods eagerly. She blushes a deep red, and can't deny the butterflies and heat in her stomach, as he wraps his arms around her to reposition her hands on the neck and leans his chin on her shoulder to quietly give her instructions. She really does have strong feelings for the older teen. She vows right there to really work on giving up on the model. If Luka is willing to give her a second chance, she's not going to waste it.

**First little drabble after taking nearly a two month break from writing. I'd love to hear what you think. **

**Maman Abeille. **


	2. Strings (Day 8)

**Title: Strings  
****Timeframe: Season three, no spoilers  
****Pairing: Luka/Marinette  
****Rating: K  
****Warnings: None.  
****Special thanks:  
****Author's Note: Lukanette September, day 8**

It's been three hours since he's gotten home, and Luka still can't hide the pure joy he's feeling from his face or the melody he's strumming out on the guitar. He knows he's probably annoying Juleka after hours of playing the same tune, but he's been waiting on Marinette for months. He finally sets the guitar to the side, spinning the ring on his pointer finger to subdue the adrenaline based need to move- to do something. He lays back on his bed and plays her words over, yet again, in his head.

_Luka corrects her finger placement on the neck of his acoustic guitar. He's had it since he was little, so it's a little smaller than his electric, which is perfect for Marinette's tiny hands. She's mentioned before too that she prefers the sound of an acoustic. She glances up at him with a hopeful smile. "Like this?" "Just like that," he smiles back, sliding his hand down her arm and out of her way. "Now the same strum pattern as before. Just the new chord." She follows his instructions and correctly plays the next part of the song. He beams down at her. _

_"I want all strings attached." She freezes against him as soon as the words are out of her mouth. The two of them have been getting closer over the last several months, but she's never been _that _direct before, especially so out of the blue. He has, sure, but never her. "I just- I mean," she starts her trademark stuttering, but his gentle hand on hers forces her to take a deep breath and recompose herself. _

_"Now," he asks her once she's calmer. "What did you mean?" He's taken to using that phrase with her whenever she gets anxious or embarrassed or turns into a stuttering mess. She likes that it gives her a chance to really think about what she wants to say, and take back any nonsense that she sputters out. _

_"I mean," she pauses for a second. "I mean just that, actually. You always say that we can just get to know each other and hang out, with no pressure and no strings attached. I want the strings though." She knows she's bright red; her cheeks feel like they are on fire, but she doesn't break their eye contact. "All of them." _

_He stares at her for several moments, completely still aside from the steady, though slightly quickened, rise and fall of his chest. He doesn't realize how long he's taking to respond until he sees her face fall, tears flooding the corner of her eyes, but not yet falling. He takes the guitar from her, sets it to the side, and pulls her flush against his chest, wrapping his arms as tightly around her as he dares without hurting her. He places a long kiss on the top of her head. "I want all the strings attached too, Marinette." He feels her relax into his hold, and slide her arms around his torso. She pulls back just enough that he has to remove his head from hers and look down at her. "All of them?" she asks. There's a daring glint in her eye he's not used to, and she bites her lip. _

_It's all the permission he needs, and he captures her lips in his, reminding himself that it's probably her first kiss and not to push it too far. He flicks his tongue out to brush her lips, but pulls away rather than deepening the kiss when he's rewarded with Marinette's breathless squeak. He rests his forehead against hers, their noses barely brushing one another's. _

_Marinette's eyes are not only still closed, but clenched tightly together. "Was that good?" she asks hesitantly. Luka only answers by cupping her cheek in his hand and kissing her again. _

"Luka!" Juleka calls from the other room, bringing his out of his daydream and back to the present. "Dinner is ready. Mom says wash up." Luka sighs, sitting up and grabbing his phone from the night stand. He realizes he's missed a text from Marinette, and grins when he sees the single little heart she's sent him. He sends one back, and slips his phone into his pocket before calling a "Be right there," out to his sister as he makes his way above deck.

**I really think that Marinette would ask if she kisses okay. Let me know what you think. **

**Maman Abeille. **


	3. First Kiss (Day 6)

**Title: Day 6: First Kiss  
****Timeframe: College  
****Pairing: Luka/Marinette  
****Rating: K+  
****Author's Note: So this is directly inspired (okay it's exactly the same, right down to most of the dialogue) as my husband and I's first kiss. I knew I had to when I saw the prompt. It really was such a cliche movie moment, and I still get all warm and giggly thinking about it. **

"Seriously, Alya, I don't know if he's really that into me. He's giving me seriously mixed signals. We've talked for hours nearly everyday for two weeks. We've had a great time when we've gone out and actually spent time together face to face. " Marinette was balancing her phone to her ear with her shoulder as she looked through her backpack for her water bottle. "This was our third date, and he still hasn't kissed me- or even tried to."

"Maybe it's because you're Juleka's friend and he doesn't want to overstep. You know, you could kiss him. That is allowed now," Alya chuckles at her in response. Her voice sounds far away, as if she's on speaker, and Marinette realizes that Nino is probably there too. "Hey Nino, what do you thi- oh, sorry, guys. That's my other line. I'll call you later, Alya." She's surprised to see 'LUKA' flash across her phone screen. It's been less than five minutes since he dropped her off at her door. She clicks the call over excitedly. "Hey?"

"Hey, Marinette. You left your water bottle in my car. I'm turning back now and can bring it back to you." Marinette nearly tells him it's fine and she has others she can use. Thankfully, Alya's words repeat themselves in her head just in time. "That would be great, Luka. Thank you." "Be there in two minutes," he tells her. She hears the click of him hanging up and the dial tone that follows, watching out the window for his car. As soon as she sees the headlights, she rushes out the door.

_"Just do it," _ she tells herself as she practically skips down the stairs. She freezes at the top of the bottom flight, her eyes locking with his, and does absolutely nothing to contain the little laugh and huge smile that's spreading across her face. In what can only be explained by Tikki's lucky magic rubbing off on her, she manages to sprint down the last dozen stairs and the couple feet to him without tripping.

Time seems to slow down as she throws her arms around his neck, which is admittedly harder than she was anticipating with the significant height difference. He's leaning down to her though, and one of them, or both of them, over anticipate how much space is between them, and she feels her teeth clang every so slightly against his. He either doesn't seem to care or notice, only wraps one arm around her waist, lifting her slightly off the ground, and cupping her cheek with the other, saving the kiss from ending, deepening it with a slight nip to her bottom lip when she gasps and brushes her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck.

Neither of them are sure how long they stood there, in the middle of her walkway, tangled in each other, and putting on a decent show for any of the neighbors outside enjoying the summer breeze. Once they finally do, Marinette is sure she's never smiled so genuinely or greatly in her entire life, and it seems like Luka might be thinking the same thing if his own smile, the way he's staring at her, and the little chuckle he lets out is anything to go by. "Wow, Marinette. I'm really glad you left your water behind. That was pretty smooth."

Marinette buries her laugh in her hands momentarily, before shaking her head. "I wish I could take credit for that. I'm just notorious for leaving things behind."

He places a quick kiss to her forehead, and she feels her blush spread further across her face and down her neck, when did _forehead _kisses make her feel like she could conquer the world? "Don't worry, when I tell people about this, I can tell them you planned that. As long as you leave out that I banged our teeth together when you tell people about it."

Marinette shakes her head, biting her lip to try to, unsuccessfully, stop hide just how elated she was. Her cheeks officially hurt from grinning so widely. "No way. I love the teeth banging. Besides, no one would believe I actually thought that up ahead of time."

"Alright, fair enough," he nods, faux seriously, taking one of her hands in his. He stares down at their intertwined fingers for a moment longer, as if he can't completely believe it, before taking a deep breath. "So, I know we both have to be up early, but would you want to walk a bit?"

"I really would." She squeezes his hand in hers, and leads him up the path.

The two spend the next hour walking around her apartment complex, stopping by the little onsite playground to swing for awhile as they talked and laughed, ignored Marinette's phone that kept alerting them that Alya was calling, and sharing kisses along the way.

**I hope you enjoyed the warm and fuzzies. **

**Hugs,  
****Honey.**


	4. Fashion Show (Day 3)

**Title: First Fashion Show  
****Timeframe: College  
****Pairing: Luka/Marinette  
****Rating: K+****  
****Author's Note: This was the day 3 prompt for Lukanette September 2019. So, clearly a little late, but better late than never, yeah?**

"That's it," Marinette groans, shoving her sketchbook to the side of her desk in defeat. "I quit!" She's surrounded by a dozen or so sketches, several fabric choices, a collection of buttons and zippers, and a couple halfway finished pieces. "I'm just going to withdraw my slot." She momentarily buries her face in her hands, taking a couple deep breaths to calm herself. "None of these are up tp Gabriel's standards, and I'd rather withdraw than submit these. Besides, I've spent so much time fretting over the actual designs, there's no way I'll actually be able to assemble them all in time for the showcase."

Tikki pasts her charge's head sympathetically, "Don't say that, Marinette. Gabriel loves your work, and he specifically asked for your submissions. You're just in a little creative rut. It happens to everyone, even the hold of the creation miraculous." Marinette gives her a half-hearted smile, appreciating her words.

"Tikki is right, you know." Marinette jumps at Luka's voice. He's casually leaning against hte door frame of their shared work space, his arms crossed in front of him. She takes a moment to soak in the sight. All these years later, and he still is able to fill her butterflies just by his presence. She realizes he's probably been there for several minutes already without her noticing. It wasn't the first time it'd happened, and she's certain it won't be last. He'd told her before that he enjoyed watching her work. She gets it. She feels the same way when it comes to his music. She will often sneak in while he's recording or writing and just lose herself in the moment, watching her love create his passion.

"You've put your heart and soul into these designs." He boosts himself off his spot on the wall and makes her way over to the desk. She turns her little swivel chair to face him as he does. Luka places a hand on each of the armrests, trapping her in before continuing. "It's impossible to miss that you've filled designs with love and care. They are going to knock his fancy, over priced socks off." He drops a gentle kiss on the top of her nose with one of his trademark little gruff of a laugh that fills her with warmth. "Besides, you're not a quitter. So… what can I do to help? I'm all yours."

"Alright," she nods, retrieving her sketchbook and determinately organizing some of the designs in front of her. "You're right. I can do this. I have been working for years to get this opportunity. I can do this. I'm Ladybug!"

"Even better, you are Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Luka smiles, stealing a quick kiss.

Marinette smiles back at him with a little chuckle and shake of her head. "And you're chessy, and I love you. Thank you, Luka." She places a soft kiss on his cheek. "Okay, lets get to work! Do you think you can help cut out a few patterns? Just the dotted lines. Not solids" she tells him motioning over to her work station and the bit of fabric laid out there, already traced out.

He rolls his eyes at her dramatically with a laugh. "You act as if I've never helped you. I know the drill, baby." He sticks her tongue out at her for added measure before doing as she asks. He's not wrong. More often than not, he does help her bring her creations to life. Usually he just cuts out the patterns for her, following her lines meticulously. Recently though, she has been teaching him some of the basic stitches that could prove useful in the upcoming months, especially since she'd been coerced into making the groups Halloween costumes this year.

They work together throughout the night, falling into natural ebbs and flows of silence and conversation.

A week later, Luka's voice startles her again. This time it's a whisper, his lips brushing ever so slightly against her ear. "You did that, baby. Good job." They are backstage of the annual Gabriel Agreste showcase, for which he'd chosen three of her final designs. The last of her models exists the stage, and she's filled with so much pride and joy, she feels like she's going to explode. "You helped," she tells him with a kiss to his cheek.

"No." He's staring down at her with so much adoration and fervor. "That's all you, my extraordinary girl." He captures her in lips in a passionate kiss, and Marinette is sure that is the absolute best moment of her life.

**Hugs,**  
**Honey**


End file.
